


The Distance Brings Us Closer

by Nebula5030



Series: Merwaine Oneshots [17]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Era, Fluff, M/M, Season/Series 03, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tooth Rotting Fluff, meet cute, short and sweet, slight angst, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 05:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17975720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebula5030/pseuds/Nebula5030
Summary: The tingle on his arm was more insistent now, and Merlin rolled up his sleeve in annoyance, expecting to find a bug had gotten into his shirt and was now crawling around.He glanced down.But then his eyes widened.





	The Distance Brings Us Closer

**Author's Note:**

> _At night, I swear I feel him, and so my eyes stay closed._  
>  _The distance brings us closer now than ever I supposed._  
>  _Who knows?_ \-- SJ Tucker, _Dream of Mississippi_
> 
> Not sure if anyone's ever done a soulmate AU quite like this one, but I came up with the idea while walking home from the bus and it wouldn't leave me alone so HERE WE GO

“Arthur, face it, we’re lost.”

“We’re not _lost,”_ Arthur scoffed, glancing around at the unfamiliar forest.  “We’re just… misplaced.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, before following after his prince while shaking his head and a hand scratching at his left forearm through his jacket.  “So we’re lost then.”

“For the last time, _no,_ we are _not_ lost.  I just… took us on a detour.  That’s all.”

Arthur waved his hands around above his head, saying something about how he can tell direction based on the position of the sun, but all Merlin noticed were the gold markings on his inner left forearm.  

Merlin's eyes saddened, and he let out a sigh while glancing away.

Soul Names were the one form of innate magic that everyone had.  The closer you were to your soulmate, the more of their name you would see in a faint silver.  But once you touched hands, the Name would turn gold and remain there for the rest of your life.

Arthur’s Soul Name had filled in and turned solid long before.  But, to the shock of all of Camelot, with _both_ the names _Lancelot_ and _Guinevere;_  Uther had been furious, upset that not only did Arthur have _two_ names and that they were filled, but that _neither_ of them were nobility.

He had forbade the union, but Arthur simply took to displaying his Soul Names every chance he got, vowing that he would marry both of them once he was on the throne.

Merlin’s Soul Name hadn’t appeared at all while he was living in Ealdor.  But when his mother had told him he was to be sent to go study with Gaius in Camelot, Merlin had come to believe that once he had arrived - that once he was in a city and surrounded by more than the twenty people he had known since birth - his Soul Name would appear.  How could it not, when he was in a city that was _filled_ with people also looking for theirs?

But no matter how hard he had looked, no matter how much time he had spent bent over his arm and scrutinizing his skin, no hint of silver had ever appeared.  Despite having been in Camelot for over two years now and traveling with Arthur on all of his political treks to other kingdoms - Merlin had met more people than he had even thought lived in all Albion - there still had been nothing.

And Merlin was only just starting to accept that his Name might never appear - that his forearm would remain blank forever.  Much like Geoffrey the Librarian’s.

The tingle on his arm was more insistent now, and Merlin rolled up his sleeve in annoyance, expecting to find a bug had gotten into his shirt and was now crawling around.

He glanced down.

But then his eyes widened.

“Arthur-!” he called.

Arthur turned, eyebrow raised.

And Merlin showed him the inside of his left arm.

Arthur’s own eyes widened, before he rushed forward and grabbed Merlin’s arm to examine the emerging letters.

 _“G-W?_ What kind of name starts with G-W?”

Merlin couldn’t help feeling insulted.  “Well _Gwen’s_ does.”

“That’s her _nickname,_ Merlin. It’s not her _actual name.”_

“Well I don’t appreciate you insulting _my_ soulmate’s name,” Merlin retorted, snatching his arm back from Arthur.  Then he blinked, it finally sinking in. “My soulmate. I… I know the first two letters of my soulmate’s name.  They’re close by.” Merlin’s gaze snapped back down to his arm. _“I have a soulmate.  And they’re close by.”_

“Merlin, we don’t know _how_ close they are.  It may take - _Merlin!”_

Merlin had already bolted off into the trees, hoping his gut was correct in the way to go.

Slowly, the next letter began to fill in, the end of the _W_ curling off and making a loop.  Merlin’s steps quickened.

_G-W-A-_

The name begun to fade as Merlin ran.   _“No no no no,”_ Merlin started, frantically backtracking, and letting out a relieved breath as it began to grow once more.  He turned right, and started to head in that new direction.

The name continued to grow.

_G-W-A-I-_

Merlin heard the sounds of people, and he looked up to see a village in front of him.  He blinked, before immediately rushing down the street, staring at the letters on his arm.

_G-W-A-I-N-_

The name began to recede once more, and Merlin scrambled backwards until it was at the greatest length it had been.  He looked to the building on his left.

The tavern was filled with people, almost completely overflowing.

They had to be in there.

But just as Merlin took a step towards it, the door suddenly slammed open, and a figure with long brown hair was thrown out, landing on his back in the dirt.  He dropped his head back and laughed, apparently unfazed.

Merlin looked him over with a quizzical look, lip twitching in amusement.

The man then noticed Merlin, and he looked up at him with a smirk.  “Let it never be said I don’t know how to make an exit.”

Merlin laughed, before bending down, hand out.  “You alright?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah.  Thanks, mate,” the man said, reaching up.

They grabbed hands.

And a shock ran through Merlin’s left arm as Merlin pulled him to a stand.  Merlin gasped - the man doing the same - before they looked at each other with wide eyes.

The man’s gaze jumped to Merlin’s exposed left arm.

And there, in gold, was the name _Gwaine._

“That…” the man started, shocked, before frantically undoing the leather bracer on his left arm. “That’s my name -”

He rolled up his sleeve.

And sure enough, the name _Merlin_ was on his arm in gold, as if it had been written there by Merlin’s own hand.

The man looked up, eyes wide. “Merlin?”

“Gwaine?”

Gwaine stared for a moment longer, before he smiled in disbelief. He let out a breathy laugh. “Merlin,” he repeated. He held out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Merlin laughed as well, and he took Gwaine’s hand.

_They’d found each other._

“Likewise.”

They both smiled disbelievingly at the other for another moment, before Gwaine suddenly lurched forward and embraced Merlin tight in a hug.

“I was afraid I'd never find you,” Merlin said, eyes brimming, as he returned the hug.

Gwaine only held him tighter.  He said through a watery laugh, “I've been all over this bloody island, and I was starting to believe the same.  Glad to see we were both wrong in that regard.”

And Merlin laughed, before he turned his head and smiled into Gwaine’s neck.

Because this… this felt so _right._

“Merlin, did you find – Oh, I suppose you did.”

Merlin laughed again, before he leaned back from his hug with Gwaine.  He gave Gwaine another smile, before turning to Arthur.

“Arthur, I want you to meet _Gwaine,”_ he turned and smiled back at Gwaine. “My soulmate.”

“My soulmate,” Gwaine echoed.  He grabbed Merlin’s hand, before lifting it to his lips and giving Merlin’s fingers a kiss.  “I like the sound of that.”

Merlin’s cheeks reddened, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the ground for a moment, before he looked up and met Gwaine’s eyes again.

“I do, too.”


End file.
